A Ukrainian fighter flies above Lugansk during a battle between resistance fighters and the Ukrainian National Guard in June 2, 2014 (RIA Novosti / Evgeny Biyatov) / RIA Novosti

Kiev has admitted showering the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk with dozens of missiles from the air, saying that its Air Force helicopters and jets “fired more than 150 missiles” in Monday’s military action.

The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE)
also confirmed on Tuesday that the deadly explosion at the city’s
administrative building was indeed an airstrike. Kiev has so far
denied the responsibility for the incident, saying its forces “do not target”
civilian areas.

The OSCE Ukrainian mission’s daily report stated that "on 2 June, shortly after 15:00 hrs,
rockets hit the occupied regional administration building. Based
on the SMM’s limited observation these strikes were the result of
non-guided rockets shot from an aircraft."

(NOTE: OSCE quote was not fully accurate in
previous edit, changed from "on June 2, around 15:00 local
time missiles hit the building of the regional government
administration. According to the observers’ data, the strike was
carried out with non-guided missiles launched from an
aircraft.")

According to an earlier statement by the Ukrainian Defense
Ministry, the intense bombing in Lugansk area was meant to
“support the Ukrainian Border Guards,” which the local
militia have been trying to take under control.

“All in all, for fulfilling the combat support of the
Ukrainian border guards the army aviators fired more than 150
missiles, carried out three jet sorties and five helicopter
sorties,” the statement says.

The air support was backed by fighter jets launching decoy flares
to prevent the attacking aircraft from being targeted from the
ground.

According to the ministry, two self-defense checkpoints were
destroyed in the attack.

Not all the Monday fighting was on the outskirts of Lugansk,
apparently, as one Ukrainian missile hit the occupied Lugansk
administration building, killing at least eight civilians inside and nearby.
Some Kiev politicians have laid the blame on the self-defense
forces for the “blast,” which has undoubtedly been
confirmed as an airstrike by the accounts of witnesses and the
CCTV footage from the scene.